Early Warning and Early Response Assistants - A Community-Centred Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta
Niger Delta, Nigeria
Programs – Africa - West /
Full Time - Local /
On-site
Job Posting: Early Warning and Early Response Assistants - A Community-Centred Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta
Location: Delta and Bayelsa States, Nigeria.
Role duration: 6 months
Search for Common Ground (Search) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful transformation of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict, moving away from destructive approaches and towards cooperative solutions. With more than 700 staff worldwide, Search implements projects in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and North America.
Position Summary
Search is seeking Early Warning and Early Response Assistants for an anticipated 18-month project funded by the European Union. The project will be implemented in consortium with co-applicants with the overall goal of fostering inclusive community security approaches to address the systemic drivers of violence and criminality in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers States. The role is expected to support the EWER Coordinator and EWER Officers during the implementation of community early warning prevention and mitigation activities in Bayelsa, Delta or Rivers State. S/he will support communication with early warning observers and confirm EWER reports. S/he will work closely with the community EWER structures in the implementation of early warning and conflict prevention activities. The position will report to the EWER Officers and will work closely with the EWER Coordinator and other country-level support staff. The position holders will be based in Bayelsa and Delta States.
The EWER Assistants are expected to support the EWER Officers and Coordinator in implementation of efforts aimed at transforming criminality, mitigation of violence and criminality and supporting community-based Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) initiatives.
The anticipated project will bring together four leading peacebuilding and development organisations in the Niger Delta, in a consortium aimed at providing a holistic, community-centred approach to addressing core drivers of criminality, violence, and conflict in the region, with a specific focus on the empowerment and inclusion of youth in the security of their respective communities in the Niger Delta. The consortium partners will leverage existing relationships with the action’s diverse target groups, including at-risk youth, local communities impacted by oil production and oil bunkering, state security actors, the private sector, journalists and media actors, key civil society organisations, and policymakers at the state, regional, national, and international levels, to secure broad-based buy-in and participation in the action. Overall, the project will seek to initiate a shift in the way that relevant actors think about and approach issues of oil bunkering, criminality, and security in the Niger Delta in favour of more bottom-up, human-centred perspectives. This institutional and social shift is necessary in order to sustainably reduce the prevalence of oil bunkering and other forms of criminality and violence in the region in the long-term.
The design of the action centres around four activity streams, each addressing a systemic driver of division, violence, and criminality in Bayelsa, Rivers, and Delta States:
Stream 1 will foster intra-community collaboration around issues of social exclusion, lack of economic opportunity, and environmental degradation.
Stream 2 will build trust and collaboration between communities and government and security actors for more participatory, community-centred security operations.
Stream 3 will leverage arts- and culture-based approaches to foster social cohesion between divided communities both online and offline.
Stream 4 will facilitate policy change to institutionalise community-centred security approaches at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels.
The position will be based in Delta and Bayelsa States.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Support the EW Officers and EWER Coordinator in documenting reports from the Early Warning System (EWS) and integrated hub in Bayelsa, Delta or Rivers state with guidance from the National Conflict and Policy Analyst
- Support monthly meetings with Community Observers (COs) and quarterly meetings with Community Peace Architecture (CPAs) in Delta and Bayelsa States.
- Document reports from the EW system comprising incident reports from COs, CPAs and other stakeholders for immediate response.
- Support the collation and development of weekly EWS reports/analysis and Monthly updates to be shared with donors and other stakeholders.
- Support the development of bimonthly EWS bulletin to share in printed and electronic copies to local actors, government and stakeholders, including NGOs.
- Document key success stories from the EWS reports, incidents and/or responses of actors and stakeholders linked to the reports received from the system.
- Support programmatic and logistical support and assistance to the EW Officers
- Contribute to the preparation of donor reports
- Provide necessary support to implementing partners and and government under the supervision of the EWER Officers and the Coordinator.
As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties broadly in line with the above key duties.
Core Competencies
- Demonstrate integrity and promote Search values and ethical standards;
- Promote the vision, mission, and strategic objectives of Search;
- Demonstrate capacity to adapt to a multi-cultural context, tolerance, and respect for issues related to gender, religion, race, and nationality;
- Proficiency in the use of MS Office and MS Excel is required
Education
- A degree in conflict resolution, peace studies, peacebuilding, conflict management, or relevant field;
Required Experience
- At least one (1) year experience in early warning and conflict management or related fields
- Have supported implementation of similar Early Warning and Early Response initiatives in Nigeria and the Niger Delta Region
- Relevant experience working in the non-profit and NGO sector or institutions providing conflict early warning and early response services.
- Understanding of the social, political and economic context of the Niger Delta region and how it impacts on conflict drivers and conflict in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states and targeted communities;
Other Relevant Requirements
- Good knowledge of the local languages will be an asset.
- Ability to work effectively in a team environment and strong interpersonal skills;
- Commitment to Search’s aims and a clear understanding of the links between policy, lobbying, campaigning, and how policy change can be achieved through effective advocacy;
- Good knowledge of the political, economic and social dimensions of Niger Delta region
- Ability to work under extreme pressure in a highly stressful environment;
- Willingness to keep abreast of new developments in the EW/ER field;
- Strong command of English language, with excellent written and oral communication and interpersonal communication skills;
- A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace; and
- Ability to prioritize, plan and organize workflow to tight timeframes, handle multiple tasks, and be flexible with changing priorities.
To apply:
Interested candidates should send the following to our Career Portal.
Current resume
Cover Letter (which includes expectations of compensation and projected start date)
Please note that the system only has the functionality to upload two documents per application. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Applications will be reviewed on rolling basis while deadline for submission of applications is May 15, 2024. Anticipated start date of this position is June 1, 2025.
Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please. Please see our website: www.sfcg.orgfor full details of our work.
Note: This position is only open to Nigerian nationals.
Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please. Please see our website: www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.
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Search for Common Ground (Search) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict—away from destructive approaches towards cooperative solutions. With more than 600 staff worldwide, Search implements projects
in more than 30 countries across the globe.
